hat Jews put on their heads before they pray is a deeply personal choice. Which is exactly why there are so many choices of kipot for men, women, teens and adults. There are special-occasion kipot and those for everyday wear, designer kipot and those that express the interests of their owner. Jake Kriger has a private collection of yarmulkes that...

If you’re in the habit of making travel-related resolutions, why not make 2013 the year of Colonial American spirit? A road trip through the original 13 colonies delivers a hefty dose of history, offering a glimpse of our country’s past, present and future. If you’re wondering where to start, here are a few ideas: 13, to be exact. Connecticut A...

Philadelphia artist and writer pens an imaginative memoir — with the assistance of her deceased father.

By:

Jane Biberman, Inside Feature

My father got into computers 20 years after he died,” claims Esta Cassway. “I was not particularly a believer in spirits,” says the local painter, lyricist and writer. That is, until 1992, when her father’s restless spirit, apparently relishing its afterlife, began interfering with her work. “I had been asked by Aronson Publishers to write and illustrate a two-volume set...

Will 2013 be the year you raise the barre? Swing into rope training? Hang around with TRX? Get a leg up with kickboxing or try some other workout that wasn’t on your fitness radar in 2012? With so many varied workouts available at health clubs and on DVD, you simply must say yes to something — but what? Here are...

If God wrote you a letter, would you read it? Well, God did, and you have. The letter is the Torah. For centuries, Jews have been reading the Torah again and again, poring through its stories, its heroes and villains, its messages and meanings. What about the language in which the letter is written? What about the Hebrew alphabet? The...

Women sizes 13 to 20 are going to have a great 2013. OK, there is no size 13. But this will be a fashion year of note for women size 14 to well beyond size 20. That’s because plus-size womenswear is undergoing a revolution that is bringing to market more of what is desperately needed: choice. Much as short women...

Are you wary of black cats, first steps, empty ovens and opened ladders? Do you smell the Havdalah candle after it is extinguished? Do you believe that the number 13 is unlucky? You’re hardly alone. Superstitious behavior permeates almost every facet of our lives. The ancient Greeks used just two words to explain both good and bad fortunes, as well...

Chicken soup is on the stove, a roast and kugel are in the oven, the table is set, candles and challah are in place, the house in Elkins Park is reasonably tidy and the six children are reasonably clean. The Coe family is ready to welcome Shabbat — as soon as Mom Jennifer comes home from work. Preparing for Shabbat...

With the opening of its newest facility, the North Philadelphia stalwart has become a major player among regional health care systems.

By:

Carol Saline, Inside feature

In July, before the signage went up, a driver heading west on Germantown Pike might easily have mistaken the enormous construction site in East Norriton for a new regional arts center. Set back from the road on an 84-acre former community golf course, with an impressive, sweeping glass atrium entrance, the building looks like anything but what it is: the...

Call it 50 Shades of Grey meets Kate Middleton: leather, lace and shimmery metallics sewn into tailored, polished garments are the biggest look for fall and winter. “When I was in New York looking at the fall collections, I saw influences of Kate everywhere I looked,” says Susan Cooper, co-owner of Gabrielle, the Bala Cynwyd boutique. Long sleeves, A-line skirts...

“May you be inscribed in the Book Of Life.” Millions of Jews express this sentiment in countless synagogues during the High Holidays. But what does the saying mean? God isn’t human, so God couldn’t write names in a book. On the other hand, God is all-powerful, so God could presumably do whatever God wants. Say God does have a book...